


I Thought You'd Never Come

by Kiyoko18



Category: DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), The Flash - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Birdflash - Freeform, Damsels in Distress, Dick Grayson to the Rescue, Distressed Wally West, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hanging, Hurt/Comfort, Locked in a Dark Room, Love Confessions, M/M, Nightmare of Hanging, Nightmares, dickwally, mental manipulation, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-22 18:58:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19972357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiyoko18/pseuds/Kiyoko18
Summary: Wally sat curled on the filthy ground in his musty cell, head buried in his arms. His tunic was in tatters, he hadn’t gotten to bathe in days, and he had noticeable red, puffy eyes with tear tracts trailing down his cheeks.He tried to curl in on himself more, trying to make himself as small as possible, causing the shackle around his ankle, which was bolted to a nearby wall, to rattle against the stone floor.He was cold, exhausted, and miserable. Wally hadn’t been let out of his cell since the threw him in here, and that was almost three weeks ago. Or, at least, he thought it was three weeks. His prison didn’t receive any sunlight, so he had to go based on the routine times he was fed and interrogated by… Eobard.





	I Thought You'd Never Come

Wally sat curled on the filthy ground in his musty cell, head buried in his arms. His tunic was in tatters, he hadn’t gotten to bathe in days, and he had noticeable red, puffy eyes with tear tracts trailing down his cheeks.

He tried to curl in on himself more, trying to make himself as small as possible, causing the shackle around his ankle, which was bolted to a nearby wall, to rattle against the stone floor.

He was cold, exhausted, and miserable. Wally hadn’t been let out of his cell since the threw him in here, and that was almost three weeks ago. Or, at least, he thought it was three weeks. His prison didn’t receive any sunlight, so he had to go based on the routine times he was fed and interrogated by… Eobard.

Eobard Thawne, his uncles most hated enemy and who, until recently, had been exiled. Evidently, this madman had managed to sneak back into the country borders, hence why he was in his current situation. He’s a hostage, a captive, something that Eobard was using to get under his uncles’ skin and something that he could use for information against his uncle.

Wally, of course, gave him nothing. He snarked at Eobard, gave him his usual bravado and witty banter. He joked, diverted the conversation and stalled, all in all, wasting Eobard’s time … at first. The during the first few days of interrogation, Eobard did nothing about Wally’s antics, other than rolling his eyes and making idle threats. With Wally locked in a dark cell and chained to the wall, he wasn’t going anywhere, so Thawne wasn’t worried. However, after awhile of no results, the threats weren’t so idle anymore. He started having his men hold Wally up while he threw punches and he’d withhold food for at least a couple days at a time. When that wasn’t working, the interrogations stopped altogether and Wally thought that he had given up, deciding to leave him in the cell to rot.

That’s when the ‘visits’ started. Eobard would come into his cell. He wouldn’t interrogate him or hit him, he’d just talk, particularly about how close this friends and family were to finding him. Which, according to him, wasn’t very close at all.

“They’re checking the southern border, no where near where this fortress is.” He’d say.

“Your uncles a stubborn man, wasting all these men and resources on you. Probably wouldn’t be as difficult though, if he had a clue where you were.”

“It’s been … what, two weeks since I brought you here. And it been awhile since I’ve heard about any attempts from your uncle to rescue you.”

“Maybe he thinks I’ve killed you already.”

“Poor man, he must be so distraught at the thought of losing his precious nephew. And your poor Auntie Iris…”

“They must miss you so much. You were like their son.”

“A pity they’ll never see you again. I bet they thought you’d grow up and become a fine young man.”

These visits felt like they went on for _hours_. Wally would deny the validity of what this bastard said. His uncle _was_ still looking for him. He knew Uncle Barry wouldn’t rest until he knew for sure that Wally was gone for good, and even then, he’d tear through anything keeping him from the person responsible. Barry wouldn’t just … abandon him like that.

But Wally sat there for days, with Eobard coming in and saying how his Uncle is giving up hope of finding him and that he had no idea where he was, then leaving him again, alone in his dark, cramped, lonely cell.

Then, as if it couldn’t get worse, Eobard came in with this.

“You have a friend right, Wally? A young man named Dick, if I’m not mistaken.”

Wally froze, but made no attempt to look at the man before him.

“You are fond of him, aren’t you?”

Wally said nothing. He wasn’t giving this man anymore ammo to use against him. Yes, he … cared about Dick. More than he could say. Dick and he had been friend since they were children and Wally trusted him more than just about anyone else. He even …

“…Well, either way. He’s seems pretty fond of you. He’s been searching for you tirelessly and even managed to take out a few squads of my men with a small team. He’s pretty persistent, I’ll give him that.”

Wally’s heart skipped a beat. Dick was …

“If he keeps this this up, I’m going to have to … deal with him.”

Wally’s eye went wide and he lunged at Thawne, only to be tripped by the shackle around his ankle. Still, from his spot on the floor, he shouted, “Don’t you dare!!! Don’t you dare touch him or I’ll tear you apart myself!! I swear to god--!”

Wally stopped yelling when he saw the smirk on Eobard’s face. He’d gotten what he wanted.

“You’re in _love_ with that boy… _aren’t_ you?”

The air in Wally’s lungs seemed to be knocked out of him. _No no no nononono_

“Hmm, I guess I’ll have to give him the _special_ treatment then. If he means that much to you. I’ll at least give him the opportunity to say goodbye to you before I have him dangling from the gallows.”

“ _NO_!” Wally cried, straining against the shackle that had him bolted to the wall, keeping him in his cell, in Eobard’s grasp, and away from Dick. “ _NO_! LEAVE HIM ALONE! HE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!”

“Nothing to _do_ with this! My boy, how could the lover of my most hated enemy’s nephew not have _anything_ to do with this?”

“He’s not my--!” Wally slapped his hand over his mouth, but he’d already said too much. The smirk on Thawne’s face got wider and more sinister.

“…You haven’t gotten the chance to _tell_ him, _have you_?”

Wally withered and let his eyes fall to the floor, saying nothing. His ability to speak seem to be held captive by the terror in his chest. This terror began to spread to the rest of his body, locking up his joints, when Thawne started to chuckle, a deep, sinister, malicious chuckle.

“Well, I guess I’ll do you favor, despite you being a rather uncooperative house guest. I’ll give you the opportunity to confess your love to your darling … right before I make him swing from the end of a noose. Hell, I’ll even let you be there when he hangs. Then you can spend his last moments with him. Won’t that be a treat?”

Then, without another word, he strode out of the cell, his laughter echoing down the hall of the dungeon. It was awful, just being left in the dark with the echo of Eobard’s words bouncing off the solid stone of his prison cell. They were getting to him, and while he did nothing in the presence of Eobard, he dissolved into a fit of sobs as soon as he was gone. Wally thrashed and strained against his chains, hiccuping and crying, screaming at Thawne do leave Dick alone, even though, deep down, Wally knew he couldn’t hear him. Even if he could, Wally knew he wouldn’t listen.

He finally collapsed onto the floor of his cell, exhausted. He missed his Uncle, he missed his aunt, he missed Bart and his friends and … Dick. Eobard was going to _kill_ Dick. He was going to make Wally _watch_ as he did it. Wally whimpered and cried, his mind torturing him with images of the man he was in love with being forced into a noose. After a few hours of this, he eventually fell into a fitful sleep where he lay on the cold stone floor.

That was three days ago, or maybe a few centuries with how time seems to pass in this cell, and Eobard had only visited a couple times, still telling Wally this same thing.

“Your friend is getting close … looks like I’ll be able to reunite the two of you soon … before you both are parted forever.”

Wally dreaded the sound of his key in the lock. He could feel his heartbeat quicken in fear. Terrified that the door would open and reveal Dick, bound and bloodied, ready to be carted off to the gallows. With that thought on his mind, time seemed to pass much like a cheese grater against a block of stone, slow and agonizing.

So, there he waited, in the dark and cold, in the festering, mildew ridden cell, waiting … alone. The guards spoke nary a word to him, and when they weren’t coming down to give him food, the dungeon was deserted. He was left there to wallow in his own anguish and despair as the shadows crept in around him, taunting him with images of both his friends and foes. He strained his ears for the sound of something, _anything_ , to pull him from his thoughts, but the corridors were as silent as a tomb.

Wally tucked his knees into his chest and closed his eyes, trying to focus on something else, to save himself from his anxiety. He focused on better times. Playing in the garden with Aunt Iris, sword fighting with Uncle Barry, getting into trouble with Dick in the village.

… Dick …

The thought of Dick brought him to one particular memory. There were at the base of a large tree, having a picnic that Aunt Iris prepared. Dick was climbing up the branches while Wally was watching from the ground, laughing.

“Dick, you’re going to fall!”

“I am not! I know what I’m doing. You sit there and watch!”

Wally rolled his eyes and laid back on the grass, enjoying the warm sun on his body.

He remembered what would happen next. The instant Dick got to the top he’d call to Wally to get him look and demand him to join him. Once Wally acquiesced and climbs about halfway, he’d lose his grip and nearly fall, only for Dick to have scrambled down and managed to catch him.

While he was waiting for Dick’s call, Wally heard a faint “…ally.”

He though it was Dick, calling him to join him, but the call became louder, more panicked and desperate. “…lly! Wally! **WALLY!** ”

Wally’s eyes snapped open, and they were met with a towering scaffold structure, and hanging from a large beam … was a noose.

“W…What?”

“ **WALLY!** ”

The redhead’s gaze zeroed in on the source of the voice, that being and shackled and bruised up Dick, struggling against the people holding him, as he was being dragged up to the stage of the structure.

“Dick? **DICK!** ” Wally rushed toward the stage, only to be tugged back by something around his wrists and ankles. Wally looked down to see that he too, was shackled. His eyes followed the chains to see them bolted to the floor.

“Enjoying the show?”

Wally turned back around to see Eobard grinning like the devil himself. Wally bared his teeth and lunged at him, shackles keeping him just out of reach. “THAWNE, LET HIM _GO_!”

Thawne said nothing, just turned around and waved his men on, directing them to the stage. The men heaved Dick onto it and started dragging him towards the loop of rope.

“WALLY! WALLY!!” Dick still cried, thrashing against his captors.

Wally’s vision switched between Dick, who crying and calling out for him, and Thawne. His legs were losing their ability to hold him up and he collapsed to his knees.

“… Thawne … please … _please_ , let him go. You gain nothing from this. I’m begging, you, please.”

Again, Thawne did nothing, watching as his men forced Dick’s head through the loop.

“…Take me, _please_. Let me take his place, please I’ll do _anything_.”

His begging fell on deaf ears. Tears started pouring from Wally’s eyes as he looked away from Eobard and locked eyes with Dick, who’s own were wide, and filled with terror. The redhead got up and tugged at the chains again, straining against them with all his might.

“Dick! DICK!” Wally was openly sobbing, as they fastened the noose around his love’s neck, one of them going for the lever.

“WALLY!” Dick thrashed against the rope and chains holding him, trying to pull out of their grip so he could get to Wally.

Suddenly there were fingers forcing him to look squarely as the stage.

“Any last words for your beloved, Wally?” Thawne crooned.

Wally’s heart thudded in his ears, despite the fact that his blood was frozen, and his stomach felt icy. His limbs felt numb and the color was completely gone from his face. His world was starting to spin. His lips trembled.

“… _No._ ”

Thawne’s man wrapped his hands around the lever.

“… _Please, no_.”

“WALLY! WALLY, HELP!! PLEASE!!”

“ _Let him go…please, please, let him go._ ”

The man braced himself, ready to pull.

“… _Dick_.” Wally hiccupped.

“READY!” Thawne called.

“… _Dick!_ ”

“PULL!”

Dick suddenly dropped. “WAL—!”

“ _NO! DICK! DICK, NOOOOO--_!”

Wally violently awoke from his nightmare. Tears are freely flowing, washing away some of the grime. His throat was sore from crying and screaming.

He curled in on himself on the floor, trying to calm his rapid breathing.

_God_ , he just wanted this to end. He wanted to get out of the dark and the cold, he wanted to get away from the nightmares, he wanted to go _home_ and hug his Aunt and Uncle … and … and…

He wanted to see Dick again, _alive_ and smiling at him and taking his hand in his and pulling him close, telling the redhead that everything would be alright.

Wally lay there for a while, crying softly.

Then, for the first time in a long time, he heard something. Voices were distantly echoing from further down the corridor and were steadily getting louder. They were yelling orders and shouting and …were they screaming in pain?

Wally pulled himself to the farthest corner of the cell, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around himself.

The shouts and yelling and screaming were getting louder. They were coming closer to his cell.

Was it Thawne? Was he finally coming to finish him off?

…He didn’t have Dick, did he?

Wally didn’t have much time to ponder that though, because the noise was suddenly right outside his cell and someone was fiddling with the lock. Then the door was ripped open and a hooded and armored man stood in the doorway, scouring the room until his gazed fell on Wally.

Wally couldn’t move, but fresh tears started to form. When the man stepped into the room, towards him, Wally shoved himself into the corner as best he could and shouted. “Stay Away! Don’t come near me!!”

The man froze and spoke in a voice that was wonderfully familiar. “Wally, it’s okay! It’s me!”

The figure whipped off his hood to reveal Wally’s best friend. Dick gave him a comforting smile.

It took Wally all of ten second for him to realized that Dick was _here_. He was here and he’d come to _save_ him. Then he jumped to envelope Dick in a hug, only to realize that;

  1. He was still chained to the wall
  2. He’s been crouching on the floor for the last couple days and his legs aren’t in the best shape.



These two issues caused him to stumble to the floor, Dick just out of reach.

“Whoa! Wally!” Dick came to Wally, pulled him to his feet, and wrapped him in a warm, comforting embrace.

“I thought I was never going to see you again.” Wally sobbed into his friend’s shoulder, a wobbly, relieved smile breaking across his face and tears of joy streaming down his cheeks.

Dick let out a shaky sigh, and brought a hand to Wally’s greasy hair, carding his hands through it. “…Wally…oh, Wally, I’m so sorry. Thawne was intentionally feeding us bad intel and it threw us way off. Bruce ended up setting us straight a few days ago. I’m so sorry it took so long.”

Wally buried his face deeper into Dick’s shoulder. “Dick, it’s fine. It’s fine, you’re here. You’re here and Thawne can’t—” Every muscle in the redhead’s body tensed up and Eobard’s threats started echoing in his head again. Dread coursed through his veins and raw panic settled in stomach. He pushed away from Dick; eyes wide in terror. “ _Thawne_! You need to leave, _now_ , before he finds you!”

Dick just looked at him, completely baffled. “What—NO! I’m not leaving you here!”

“You have to! If he finds you, he’ll--!”

Dick grabbed him by the forearms and pulled him close. “I don’t care what he’ll do to me! I am not going to just leave you! Never again!”

Wally’s eyes fixed on Dick’s sweet, determined blue ones. He was serious, he wasn’t leaving, not with out him. And the mere though of that simultaneously made his heart soar and his stomach sink. He only managed to stutter out, “But … but he’ll…”

Dick gave a deep sigh and pulled wrapped his arms around Wally again. “Okay, first; I fought my way through three camps of Thawne’s men and every guard he had between the front door and your cell. If he tried anything, I’d fight him tooth and nail. Second; Even if I wanted to fight him, I’d have to get in line, because you’re Uncle is already dealing with him.”

“…Uncle Barry is here?”

Dick smile. “Yes, and he’s going to be furious if I don’t get you out of here right now. Now, let’s get that shackle off you.” 

They both dropped to the floor and Dick took hold of Wally’s ankle, working on the lock that kept the cuff latched to it.

“So, Barry is here. Is there anyone else?”

“Yeah, my brothers are here, so is Megan, Conner, Artemis, Roy and Kaldur. Even Bruce, Clark, Diana and Hal are here, with more on the way.”

Wally visibly relaxed. Dick didn’t come by himself; he’s got reinforcements and Eobard wouldn’t be able to take them all. Everything would be fine,

“…I can’t lie though; they had a hard time getting me to not try and take on Thawne’s fortress myself once we found out where you were. I was ready to…” He trailed off, getting _really_ focused on the cuff around Wally’s ankle.

“…ready to?” Wally urge him to continue, the heat on his face proof that a blush was forming, but he doubted it was noticeable underneath all the grime.

“… I was a wreck the past couple weeks, Wally. When you got kidnapped, I was worried sick. Then when I found out we were being fed _wrong_ information and had been wasting our time, I just … I was so angry at myself. For taking so long to realize something was wrong and leaving you trapped here for so much longer than necessary. I …”

Silence fell again, neither of them knowing what to say until. “Thawne said you manage to take out three camps of his men with just you and a small team.”

Dick stilled for a moment. “…Yeah, I did… Thawne talked to you?”

“Yeah, he’d come in and give me updates on your guys’ search. I think he was trying to get in my head.”

Dick paused his attempts to unlock the cuff to look at Wally, taking in his appearance. His clothes were filthy and torn, his hair greasy and matted, he was covered in dirt and his eyes … they were puffy and red while his cheeks were decorated with dirt stained tear tracts. Dick hesitantly put a hand against Wally’s cheek, using his thumb to wipe away some of the dirt. He only ended up smearing it around, but Wally felt his cheeks get warm.

“…Looks like it worked. Are you okay?”

A small, though tired, smile crept onto Wally’s face. “Yeah … I am now … and I’ll be even better once we get out of here.”

Dick took the hint and began working on the cuff again. Within second he unlocked it, and pulled it off, revealing the nasty, raw skin on Wally’s ankle. It looked like it had been rubbed raw and some blisters had been popped, formed and then popped again. Several times.

Dick hissed at the sight and gingerly brought the ankle closer to his face so he could inspect it. “Does it hurt? Do you think you can walk on it?”

Wally bit his lip. He’d been crouched on the floor for a couple days and now that the cuff as off, the raw skin hurt quite a bit. He probably couldn’t walk that well, and definitely not as fast as Dick needed him to.

“…I’ll take that as a no. Come here.”

Dick gently wrapped his arms under Wally’s legs and behind his back, then lifted him into his arms, bridal style. Wally could feel his entire face go completely red. Nevertheless, he wrapped his arms around Dick’s neck. “T-Thanks.”

“…no problem.”

They were standing there, just gazing at each other, and Wally noticed that Dick’s cheeks were starting to turn pink and his head was gravitating towards Wally’s own.

“Wally … when you were gone … I … I thought I was never going to see you again. I thought … I thought Thawne was going to kill you and I couldn’t …”

“… Thawne told me he was going to hang you and make me watch. I’ve spent the last few days terrified that he was going to open that door and have you there in chains.”

Wally felt Dick grip on him tighten a bit, but he didn’t mind. Being here in Dick’s arms felt warm and … safe.

“… Wally?”

“Yes, Dick?”

“… There were things that I wanted to tell you… things that I was afraid I would never get the chance to if you were … gone. I don’t want to ever live my life with that kind of regret again.”

Wally could feel his heart fluttering against his rib cage. Tentatively, Wally brought a hand up to rest on Dick cheek. “…Dick?”

“I love you, Wally.”

Dick went in and captured Wally’s lips in a passionate kiss, which Wally returned eagerly, despite his fatigue. They molded their lips together perfectly, if a little inexperienced. It was soft and sweet and everything Wally wanted it to be.

Eventually the need for air got to them and they pulled away panting.

“… I—I’m sorry if I—”

Wally put a finger to his lips and smiled. “It’s okay. I love you too, Dick. I love you so much and I was afraid I’d never get the chance to tell you.”

Dick smiled, tears started to well in his eyes and rested on his forehead against Wally’s. He chuckled lightly. “Well, isn’t this romantic. A confession in a dark, dingy dungeon during a raid.”

“Hey, you came in to rescue me like my knight in shining armor. That’s pretty romantic. Though, admittedly, I wish I was in better shape myself.” Wally looked down at his decrepit form.

“We’ll get you home, cleaned and patch up soon enough. Don’t worry about it.”

Wally grinned and pulled Dick in for a second kiss.

They kissed softly for a couple second before—

“Dick! Clark wants us to get out of here! Do you have— Oh my god!”

The two men snapped their attention to the third party that had entered. It was Jason, looking very irritated.

“For the love of _god_ , Grayson. Smooch West later! We need to move!”

Dick shrugged apologetically but followed Jason out of the dungeon, Wally clutching to his shoulders and face buried into his neck, smiling.

He was going home, out of that dark and dirty cell, away from Thawne and he was safe in the arms of the man he loved. For the first time in a while Wally felt like everything was going to be okay.


End file.
